The Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project
The Scandinavian Brown Bear Project is a Nordic research collaboration with a focus on ecology and management.
The Scandinavian Brown Bear Project is a long term project with the goal of conducting research that will provide managers with scientifically based knowledge to meet their current and future needs. The bear population in Sweden has increased in size and distribution while both the environment and management are also changing. We will continue to provide management with information based on our radio-marked bears, which are the basis for population models and management tools to monitor the development and status of the bear population. We apply for funding of the core project, the continuity of which is crucial for all our other targeted studies, of which almost all are externally funded. Some of these targeted studies are highly relevant for the call’s prioritised areas of research: “complexity in wildlife biology and management” and “instruments and practices for wildlife management”. We will study bear predation on moose and reindeer, interaction with wolves, new methods to improve the use of DNA, management tools for harvest, evaluation of monitoring methods, how to reduce people’s fear of large carnivores and connectivity for brown bears in a human-modified landscape, but also the impact of our research methods on our study species. Our long-term data gives us the possibility to study the effects of important functions on the bear population. In addition to these issues related to management, the bear project has the ambition to continue to function as one of Scandinavia’s most visible and successful socioecological research projects.
Project leader
Jonas Kindberg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Amount
1 500 000 SEK
Multispecies interactions and improved monitoring and management methods
Abstract
This proposal explores several important knowledge gaps related to two core SEPA research priorities: 1) complexity of game biology and management; multi-species management, and 2) tools and practice in wildlife management; development, testing and quality assurance of methods for monitoring. The project has two goals: a) evaluate bear-wolf-moose-red deer predation dynamics, movement patterns, and interactions, and b) facilitate robust bear population estimates by evaluating and addressing potential bias in individual detection probability within the current bear monitoring scheme . This study takes advantage of the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project's (SBP) core resources, including the annual GPS-collaring of bears in Sweden, and the convergence of research efforts in the Ljusdal area which represents a unique opportunity to explore multispecies interactions; this is the first time bears, wolves, moose, and red deer will be simultaneously collared in Sweden. We plan to collaborate with the Scandinavian Wolf Research Project and Moose Research Team to a) quantify bear-wolf-moose predation, b) explore and quantify drivers of bear-moose kill rates, including the presence of wolves and novel ungulate prey, and c ) explore multispecies interactions, movements, and behavior. This is important in the context of the shifting paradigm from single species to multispecies management. We will also collaborate with RovQuant to d) update and refine bear population models and estimates by investigating potential bias in individual bear detection probability. This project will expand on SBP's contribution to wildlife management by helping refine current bear population estimates and generating knowledge about the nature of interactions between large carnivores and ungulates. This is particularly important in the context of climate change, which is expected to alter the environmental background via climactic shifts and altered species abundance and range.
Project leader
Jonas Kindberg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Amount
1 370 000 SEK